Medical Symposium
February 19, 2001
The FP delegates returned to the Melia Hotel with Professor Dung and some of his colleagues to continue a question-and-answer session with the full delegation over lunch. Marguerite Duane, M.D., of Lancaster, Pa., shares information about the specialty of family practice with a new friend.
Monday morning, five family physicians traveled to the Institute for Health Strategy and Policy in Hanoi to meet with about 20 Vietnamese medical professionals and health system researchers to provide some insight into the world of FPs in the United States. "In Vietnam, the concept of family practice is extremely new, and we are often greeted by a mixture of great interest and skepticism about the breadth of our specialty," said Daniel Ostergaard, M.D., AAFP vice president for international and interprofessional activities.
This medical symposium was overseen by Professor Pham Huy Dung, deputy director of the institute, who has worked closely with Physicians With Heart coordinators in setting up this educational component of the Vietnam project.
Marguerite Duane, M.D., of Lancaster, Pa., said the morning session was a success. "This was the beginning of introducing this information so they could begin to learn how to develop their own family practice residencies in Vietnam," Duane said. "There is so much information -- where do you begin -- and where do they begin to ask questions?" Last year, Duane was AAFP's student Board member.
This medical symposium was overseen by Professor Pham Huy Dung, deputy director of the institute, who has worked closely with Physicians With Heart coordinators in setting up this educational component of the Vietnam project.
Marguerite Duane, M.D., of Lancaster, Pa., said the morning session was a success. "This was the beginning of introducing this information so they could begin to learn how to develop their own family practice residencies in Vietnam," Duane said. "There is so much information -- where do you begin -- and where do they begin to ask questions?" Last year, Duane was AAFP's student Board member.
Celebration banquet
Forming a human chain, each child placed hands on the shoulders of the child ahead to dismount the stage stairs.
Monday evening, the Melia Hotel Ballroom in Hanoi was the site of a celebration banquet. Gary Morsch, M.D., president and founder of Heart to Heart International, based in Olathe, Kan., spoke about the humanitarian scope of the airlift.
"It's more than bringing in medicine, it's more than education," he said. "It's about heart -- many individuals in this delegation have paid their own way to be here this week, showing that this is about love, appreciation and concern."
The delegation was honored to receive U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson at the celebration.
After dinner, a group of children from the Blind School in Ha Tay Province gingerly made their way to the stage. Dressed in starched white shirts, red kerchiefs and navy slacks and skirts, the youngsters mesmerized the audience with melodic strains of Vietnamese folk songs.
"It's more than bringing in medicine, it's more than education," he said. "It's about heart -- many individuals in this delegation have paid their own way to be here this week, showing that this is about love, appreciation and concern."
The delegation was honored to receive U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson at the celebration.
After dinner, a group of children from the Blind School in Ha Tay Province gingerly made their way to the stage. Dressed in starched white shirts, red kerchiefs and navy slacks and skirts, the youngsters mesmerized the audience with melodic strains of Vietnamese folk songs.
Vietnam 2001
